Urgent Care :: Female turtle spinning and blowing bubbles

[carrotcake]

Hey everyone,

I have a turtle (who is suspect is carrying eggs) and lately wont be taking out one of her legs when swimming and therefore swimming around in circles. The leg is not broken or anything because when I take her out of the water, she walks fine. Also, something else that I've noticed is that she blows bubbles from time to time, the other turtles don't do this, so I got concerned about that.

Its an old RES, female, about 11 inches long. Otherwise looks really healthy.

[zero_tails]

I suspect an RI....but im not too sure

[carrotcake]

What is an RI?

thanks

[Caton420]

respiratory infection, take her to a vet

[SpotsMama]

I think you should take her to a vet too. You must love your turtle very much to have brought her so far - 11 inches is huge - so you really don't want to be taking chances with her health. RI can be very serious. The turtles that survive are the ones that are treated early on and treated aggressively.

Of course it may not be RI, but something's wrong, so best get her checked out. There are a number of possibilities - egg bound, parasites, some sort of injury.

Good luck. Please keep us posted.

[marisa]

My turts sometimes blow bubbles under water, so I'm not sure from what you wrote whether this is unusual or a sign of something or what. Any other symptoms?

As for swimming with the leg in, mentioned other turtles. Are they in the same tank with this turtle? Could one of them be nipping at the leg in the water? When she's out of the water, do you notice any irritated areas or broken skin?

Why do you suspect your turtle is carrying eggs?

[carrotcake]

I am suspecting she is carrying eggs because I wake up and there are egg shells in the water, but I have two females and I don't really know which one of them is laying. I tried putting her in a 40Gal tank with organic soil and she hated it. Then I tried walking her around the house and had a box with the same soil that she can walk into, and still nothing. She was digging a little bit on the carpet, but she didn't lay anything, a few weeks passed and still nothing, so we threw away the soil. Now, more egg shells are turning up in the morning and the turtle is behaving this way.

Today, she didn't swim in circles and felt a little better. She is in an 100+ Gal tank with 2 other RES: 1 male (5 inches) 1 female (7 inches).

I can't take her outside, because I'm sure some of you have heard the terrible weather we are having in Montreal (last night we had 30cm of snow and gusts of up to 70km/h). I am waiting for the temp to warm up so I can take her out and she can lay her eggs, if she has any.

Currently, the water temp is at 27oC and the basking temp is about 30oC. I increased the water temp yesterday from 24oC because of her behavior.

I don't think the other turtles are harassing her. The other female and her have been together for over 2 years and the male loves her (even does the hand dance). They all bask together and they are happy. There are no scabs or open wounds on her legs. In fact, she will alternate which leg she has in, when she's spinning in circles.

Unfortunately, I have not yet taken her to the vet, but intend on doing it...when I get my paycheck on thursday. Anyone know how much these things are going to cost (not that it's an issue, I just want to know if the guy is ripping me off, I've never had problems with my turtles before)?

[Hoooneylynn]

oh wow, if there are egg shells in the water, she could be retaining her eggs. A turt that is egg bound will almost always want a specific area to lay her eggs, which is NOT in the water. She may lay a couple in the water because she has no other choice... but she may try to retain the rest inside of her because she doesnt want to lay them in the water. This is very dangerous and can lead to death if the eggs are retained for a long time. Read this for more information, and I definetely suggest taking her to a vet.

http://www.redearslider.com/reproduction.html

[DavidY]

Yea, if she's expelling broken egg shells, that means they are getting broken inside of her. She should definitely be x-rayed.

[carrotcake]

Well I haven't seen her lay the eggs, but I have seen the broken eggs in the water being eaten. I always thought that they were broken because they were being eaten, not because they were broken inside of her (or the other one).

[Hoooneylynn]

Well, either way, if they were broken inside or out, there is a possibility that she is still retaining eggs, and eventually they will break inside of her if she is... She needs to get xrayed.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Yeah I agree with jessica, I wouldnt take a chance with something like this - if you wait too long you can lose her, on top of that..the earlier she gets treated, the better/faster recovery she will make.

Good luck,

[carrotcake]

Yeah, I will definitely take her to a vet and I am expecting her to get treated for RI and to take an X-ray. Do you have an idea how much this will cost? It's technically Tuesday right now where I am (EST), will it be okay to wait until Thursday?

[xsavingsaturdayx]

The sooner the better, If you can make it wednesday then awesome, but if not thursday is fine. Vet visits vary, chibi_sephiroth got his turtle an X-ray because it consumed gravel, I think he explained that the cost was around 200$ plus the visit fee and antibiotics. If you cant afford it all right away (alot of us sometimes cant) you can always talk to your vet about a payment plan.

[DavidY]

My vet also does ultrasound which if I remember correctly was about $100.